Citizens of North Mitrovica on the ban on the import of Serbian goods: Because of Kurti, there is no food or medicine from Serbia

The ban on the import of Serbian goods into Kosovo has been in place for a full nine months, and the citizens of North Mitrovica say that there are no longer any products from Serbia available and that they are forced to buy low-quality groceries at the same price. They are managing as best they can, they say, bringing in as much merchandise from Serbia as is allowed.

Stevica Jovic, who says he was expelled from Vucitrn and now lives in North Mitrovica, points out that due to the ban on Serbian goods, low-quality groceries are now on offer.

"For nine months, Kurti hasn't let us get medicine, it's terrible! We are living as if in an occupied territory. It's hard, but we've gotten used to the torture from Pristina, and we won't leave Kosovo, they won't expel us. It is hard to live without basic groceries, and they offer groceries of poor quality here at the same price. I have to consume low-quality food from the south, no matter where it is produced, because Kosovo has little food, they import it. Why shouldn't we import food from our Serbia, receive medicine, get salaries, and live normally like all civilized people?" Jovic asks.

He also notes that the European Union remains silent on all this.

"They are turning a blind eye. You know, if EU politics were good, we wouldn't have a war in Ukraine today, and if EU and American politics were democratic, we wouldn't have a war in Kosovo and Metohija either. Almost everyone is silent. The point is that there are super people – America and the West – and there is a second class and a third. There's no justice, no rights, no freedom, and unfortunately, that's the reality of this time, especially in Europe, which is considered democratic but has little democracy," Jovic says.

Dejan Milic from Mitrovica says there's a possibility that many small businesses will shut down due to Pristina's measures.

"We are managing however we can. Since we are already going to Serbia for money, we also take merchandise as much as they allow us to carry. The situation is the same with medicine; it's very difficult, and nothing has changed these months. I live in hope, like everyone here, that things will get better, so we'll see. But if this continues, there is a possibility that many small businesses will shut down due to the inability to operate, and if those companies shut down, the people will find it difficult to survive here in Kosovo," Milic says, sounding concerned.

Slavko Andric is also embittered, stating that people have been struck by "the greatest hardship" he can remember.

"Our goods are absent, everything is from elsewhere, not even milk, nothing of ours. It's never been worse than it is now. This is the greatest hardship that can exist, and it will be even worse if they introduce a ban on us receiving dinars, and we're finished. How can we receive money? How can I, at 78 years old, go and get it?" Andric says, expressing his revolt.

His fellow townsman, who didn't want to give his name to our reporters, emphasizes that there's no quality merchandise in the stores.

"We are managing as best we can. We go to Serbia and bring back what we can. There are no Serbian goods at all, nor is there any quality merchandise," this citizen of Mitrovica says.